And the survey says……..

Today (April 16) I had my appointment to review the CT Scans and the X-rays I had taken last week.

By the way…did you know that the radiation you get from CT Scans is pretty big…

“It’s often said that the radiation dose of a chest X-ray is comparable to flying across the continent,” Smith-Bindman says, referring to natural radiation exposures at high altitudes. “But a CT scan can be comparable to 500 transcontinental flights.”

Yeah… I just flew back and forth across the US 1,000 times last week. Treatment can be as bad as the cure I guess. But anywho – you didn’t sign up for a class on radiology.

The net-net is… wait for it… ALL CLEAR!

Phew!

Nothing new in the “C” category that the Doc could see. Everything looks great. We scheduled the next CT Scan for end of June and we’ll hold our breath that week as well. It really didn’t bother me until today when we had the appointment… it just started to weigh on my mind. So happy it was good news.

The only thing he mentioned – and it is no big deal – is that I have a bit of fluid accumulating in my abdomen. The Doctor said it was very normal. When they do the surgery they take out all your lymph nodes and those nodes play a big role in funneling fluid out of the body. Since I don’t have the nodes no mo’ it takes a bit longer for fluid to move out. He said it should go away on its own soon enough.

I was grinning the whole time he was talking about the fluid because all I could think of was this from the series Scrubs (may need to click through to see the video.)

The R-Rated Part

The funniest part of the visit was when the Doctor brought up the issue of … well, let’s just use the Italian translation: amore attrezzature.

As with many surgeries where the prostate is removed there can be some decrease in hydraulic function. According to the Doctor now is the time to start paying attention to that. I’m still in the “do I have cancer” phase and worrying about “that” isn’t really on my mind. And, believe me… I’m pretty sure the wifey isn’t chasing me around the house right now. We’re kinda relaxing and just happy I’m doing okay.

But the Doctor pressed on (of course he’s in his 30’s so I’m guessing it’s pretty high on his to-do list.) He recommended a couple of courses of action…

Injections – yeah… that got everyone’s attention. Injections 15 minutes prior to the “event.” He said that it was the most reliable. Reliable wouldn’t have been the word I would have used.
Or pills. First question out of my mouth – “Can we start with the pills and go to the needles as a last resort?” Of course he said but the injection is the most reliable. I get that. But why would I jumped to injections first? Call me old fashioned but injections in that area is not what I consider foreplay. Hand me the tablets and let’s go buy two bathtubs!

I only put that discussion in this post because we were all cracking up in the Doctor’s office and I thought you all might be interested in the wide variety of topics we cover during our appointments. I won’t be having any more discussion on the efficacy of the pills or whether or not we needed the injections. Let’s just leave it a mystery. (I’m guessing a bunch of you wished I left the WHOLE thing a mystery.)

So… I’ll probably be posting even less often for the next few weeks but if something comes up and I think it warrants a discussion I’ll let you know.

And finally – for all of you who expressed your concern and prayers – Thank You! I am positive it made a difference and helped immensely.